On October 10, the finance ministers of the 10 EU member states that work on developing financial transaction tax (FTT) held a meeting in Luxembourg. The ministers had agreed on some important measures that form "the core engine" of FTT, but further details have to be agreed on in the coming weeks.

On October 10, the finance ministers of the 10 EU member states that work on developing financial transaction tax (FTT) held a meeting in Luxembourg. The ministers had agreed on some important measures that form "the core engine" of FTT, but further details have to be agreed on in the coming weeks.

Background

Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain have been negotiating the financial transaction tax for nearly three years and had planned its implementation this year. In fact, several deadlines have been missed over the course of three years. In June, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling had warned that the countries should give up the idea if not having an agreement by September.

Mandate

The European Commission has been given a mandate to draft a financial transactions tax law but work still needs to be done on the proposal, the EU's economics commissioner said. "They agreed on the four important measures that will form the core engine of such a tax," he said, adding that his office would now prepare a draft legislation.

Final Agreement

"My services, together with the technical group of the participating countries, will now draft a legal text on which we will seek political agreement over the next weeks," Pierre Moscovici said in a statement released on October 11. He said that the ministers made "very important progress" and that there is still some analysis to be done.

"Hopefully, in the weeks to come, we will be capable of submitting this draft to the ministers so that they can go to the finish line," Moscovici added.

On October 10, the finance ministers of the 10 EU member states that work on developing financial transaction tax (FTT) held a meeting in Luxembourg. The ministers had agreed on some important measures that form "the core engine" of FTT, but further details have to be agreed on in the coming weeks.

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